How The Aussie Open Aced Sports Culture

…That is, until 41 million viewers tuned into the Eagles-49ers playoff game and her outfit shut down the internet. She spilled the beans about the $950 faux fur coat that became a celebrity in its own right.

It’s 15 years since LeBron James became a shareholder of Liverpool FC and made his first visit to watch a game at Anfield. Please enjoy these incredible pictures. It won’t surprise you that he’s as good an investor as he is a hooper. His 2% stake in the club, worth a miserly $6.5 million in 2011, is now looking pretty tasty at $96 million, per Boardroom. 

NikeSKIMS, the cool-kid activewear line by the Swoosh and Kim K, has officially expanded into footwear. The NikeSKIMS Rift evolves from the legendary Nike Air Rift tabi shoe of the 90s, with the split toe design taking inspiration from Kenya’s Rift Valley, home to many of the all-time great long distance athletes who changed the course of sports—and Nike—history. Don’t say this newsletter isn’t educational too! 

Predictions market Kalshi has a lot going for it. What it didn’t have, up until literally just now, was something every serious company needs these days: an A-List athlete endorser. Enter Bryson DeChambeau, whose deal will include a TV commercial, social media posts, live appearances, branded content and much more, says FOS.

One of my favorite writers, Mel Kenny of the tennis-focused Substack, Hard Hitting, is helping the good people of New York find love through the power of sports culture. Dating apps beware, Mel has stumbled on the simple truth that to find true love in 2026, all you need to do is gather single tennis lovers in one newsletter post and let them DM each other. Hinge and Feeld execs are sweating. 

There has long been a divisive discourse in tennis that splits fans down the middle. Some say that to survive, Big Tennis™ desperately needs to innovate, joining the rest of the sporting world in the modern era, doing more for the kids, and the people watching on TikTok, etc. Others will die on the hill that to remain successful and keep its charm, tennis—especially when it comes to the Grand Slams—should stay exactly how it’s always been. I think there’s merit to both arguments.

But watching the start of the Australian Open this week will leave you in no doubt as to where the first Grand Slam of the year is placing its bets. The One Point Slam contest—a sudden death elimination tournament in which matches last, you guessed it, one point—is an all-new format designed to inject some fun and competitiveness, bring some star power and get fans engaged in the tournament ahead of the main draw next week. And like all good competitions, the exhibition night had serious money on the line: one million Australian dollars (a cool $667,000). 

Despite a stacked field, which featured the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff, the person who walked home with the prize money (and no doubt loads of new friends blowing up his phone) was Jordan Smith, a former US college tennis player turned coach, who beat the likes of Jannik Sinner on his way to glory in front of a sellout crowd.  

It was the perfect example of the kind of fun, excitement and commerciality that tennis can unlock when creative thinking goes into planning for Grand Slams, which are increasingly beginning to morph into cultural spectacles alongside the serious business of elite tennis. The best of both worlds. 

It’s no coincidence that the Australian Open has quickly become known as the innovative Slam on the calendar, thanks to its early incorporation of tech into stadium design and matchplay, its all-day music festivals featuring the likes of Hot Chip, party courts, and so much more. 

The tennis itself is already serving up box office entertainment, too. Yesterday, we saw a player celebrate prematurely, thinking he’d won his match, only to find out (in the worst way) that championship tie breaks go up to 10 points, not seven (he thought he’d won 7-1). He then dropped eight of the next nine points on his way to losing the match, which his opponent celebrated by doing the choking gesture. The drama.

Plus, Aussies just know how to have fun and put on a good show. I guess there’s a reason they call it the Happy Slam. Please, someone fly me out next year? Or this week. I’m easy. 

We at OffBall love a good burner account. We may or may not have one (or two or three or …) ourselves. But my favorite burner account on the entire internet belongs to one man and one man only: Anthony Edwards. 

If you’re not following it, whatchu been doing this whole time? @believethatjack is a non-stop Ant Man comedy show. It’s been around since last Fall, but Ant has really stepped things up when it comes to posting lately.

He blessed us nonstop over the holidays with Christmas wishlists and pictures of reindeer wearing AE 2 sneakers…

His trash talk also knows no limits and takes no prisoners…

No, seriously… 

And you better believe he keeps receipts…

And yeah, haters may say Ant’s not the one pushing the buttons because sometimes the account posts while he’s on court posterizing your fav hooper, or dropping gems in a post-game press conference. But there’s no denying that the humor comes straight from the source.